# bayonet questions **URL:** \ **Category:** Factual Questions\ **Created:** [August 16, 2002, 3:17pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/bayonet-questions/124202 "2002-08-16T15:17:43Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 11\ **Page:** 2
**Author:** ![Bosda\_Di\_Chi\_of\_Tricor](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/bosda_di_chi_of_tricor/32/16845_2.png) [@Bosda\_Di\_Chi\_of\_Tricor](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Bosda_Di_Chi_of_Tricor)\ **Post date:** [August 17, 2002, 10:56pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/bayonet-questions/124202/21 "2002-08-17T22:56:00Z")
> [@](#): > > \*Originally posted by Alessan \* > \*\*Well. I never trained with a bayonet - in fact, I don’t think the IDF ever used them (the Uzi doesn’t even have a socket; anyway, putting a knife on a submachinegun is beyond absurd), although it does issue them for ceremonial purposes. > > \*\* Both the Czechs & Red China have made subguns with providsions for bayonets. Oddly, China made one version in which the bayonet was an integral part of the subgun, and _could not be removed wittout a screwdriver_. 😕 :eek: The mdoel slips my mind, but the (very) funky-looking photo of the weapon doesn’t. ---
**Author:** ![Winsling](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/w/8e8cbc/32.png) [@Winsling](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Winsling)\ **Post date:** [August 17, 2002, 11:25pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/bayonet-questions/124202/22 "2002-08-17T23:25:15Z")
Another purpose that hasn’t been touched on is crowd control. Anytime troops are facing masses of civilllians, you’ll see fixed bayonets. Hal ---
**Author:** ![Mr.Duality](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/mr.duality/32/4098_2.png) [@Mr.Duality](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Mr.Duality)\ **Post date:** [August 18, 2002, 1:45am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/bayonet-questions/124202/23 "2002-08-18T01:45:59Z")
THe drill instructors at USMC boot camp told us of one as-yet unmentioned situation in which bayonets would be the best weapon. When combatants are mingled such that a rifle bullet might go through 2 or 3 victims before stopping, you stand a much lower chance of causing casualties among friendly troops if you use a bayonet. ---
**Author:** ![Mr.Duality](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/mr.duality/32/4098_2.png) [@Mr.Duality](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Mr.Duality)\ **Post date:** [August 18, 2002, 1:49am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/bayonet-questions/124202/24 "2002-08-18T01:49:41Z")
When you might hit one of your own guys with a bullet, us a bayonet. ---
**Author:** ![Horseflesh](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/horseflesh/32/7502_2.png) [@Horseflesh](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Horseflesh)\ **Post date:** [August 18, 2002, 3:47am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/bayonet-questions/124202/25 "2002-08-18T03:47:52Z")
> [@](#): > > \*Originally posted by Winsling \* > \*\*Another purpose that hasn’t been touched on is crowd control. Anytime troops are facing masses of civilllians, you’ll see fixed bayonets. > > Hal \*\* Geez, I don’t know what kind of unruly crowds you’ve got in Ohio, but when I was doing riot control duty in San Francisco we had riot clubs (like police nightsticks) and sunglasses. No sharp weapons or bullet-hurling weapons were used. ---
**Author:** ![Mike.V](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/82dd89/32.png) [@Mike.V](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Mike.V)\ **Post date:** [March 26, 2003, 9:59pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/bayonet-questions/124202/26 "2003-03-26T21:59:41Z")
Dragging up this old thread to report that on the cover of the NY Time’s “A Nation at War” section, some of the Marines pictured have bayonets fixed. “They need to be in the mindset that we’re here to fight,” said Gillikin, 24. “We’re not here to kill civilians, but bayonets are fixed, weapons are loaded and the focus is on the enemy. The focus is on what’s going to kill us.” - [Casualty Reports Harden Mindset In 7th Marines](http://www.stltoday.com/stltoday/news/stories.nsf/News/FB4627784ECD599786256CF300795C76?OpenDocument&Headline=Casualty+reports+harden+mindset+in+7th+Marines) [Google News: Bayonets](http://news.google.com/news?hl=en&lr=&ie=UTF-8&oe=utf-8&safe=off&q=bayonets&sa=N&tab=wn) ---
**Author:** ![Ringo](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/779978/32.png) [@Ringo](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Ringo)\ **Post date:** [March 27, 2003, 1:49am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/bayonet-questions/124202/27 "2003-03-27T01:49:41Z")
The last bayonet charge that I can find record of was the Battle of Bayonet Hill in January 1951, in Korea. It was led by Capt. Lewis Millett, who received the Medal of Honor as a result of that action. Which means they didn’t quite get it right with the ending of _We Were Soldiers_. ---
**Author:** ![Ringo](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/779978/32.png) [@Ringo](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Ringo)\ **Post date:** [March 27, 2003, 1:51am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/bayonet-questions/124202/28 "2003-03-27T01:51:34Z")
_fiddlesticks_ The last bayonet charge **by U.S. Troops** … ---
**Author:** ![Hermann\_Cheruscan](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/h/b782af/32.png) [@Hermann\_Cheruscan](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Hermann_Cheruscan)\ **Post date:** [March 27, 2003, 2:19am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/bayonet-questions/124202/29 "2003-03-27T02:19:30Z")
I recall training with bayonets in basic training during the 1980s. After that, the only time we saw them was when we had a change of command ceremony, and the outgoing commander would try to impress the incoming commander by having us march around with bayonets on our rifles. Ah, the days of standing at attention for 2 hours straight, in the middle of the desert heat, 110 degrees on a blazing asphalt parade field. With fixed bayonets. And hoping like hell nobody passed out and stabbed someone. ---
**Author:** ![Boyo\_Jim](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/87869e/32.png) [@Boyo\_Jim](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Boyo_Jim)\ **Post date:** [March 27, 2003, 3:12am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/bayonet-questions/124202/30 "2003-03-27T03:12:08Z")
[According to this site](http://216.239.37.100/search?q=cache:XAcLsfQEb6cC:call.army.mil/products/pdf/newsltrs/2-88/2-88bk.pdf+falklands+%22fix+bayonets%22&hl=en&ie=UTF-8#4), not only were there bayonet charges but at least one British officer used it to kill in the Falklands campaign. ---
**Author:** ![WillSantini](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/w/ed8c4c/32.png) [@WillSantini](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/WillSantini)\ **Post date:** [April 5, 2003, 6:33pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/bayonet-questions/124202/31 "2003-04-05T18:33:18Z")
Read this article this morning and thought it might answer the OP. > [@](#): > > _The Associated Press_ > On the southern outskirts, Marines engaged in close-quarters fighting with pro-Saddam volunteers from Jordan, Egypt, Sudan and elsewhere, according to Lt. Col. B.P. McCoy of 3rd Battalion, 4th Marines. > > "It’s like a jihad. They were given a rifle and told to become a martyr,’’ said McCoy, whose troops used bayonets while battling in the reeds of a marsh. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/bayonet-questions/124202.md?page=1)